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Ayn Rand's Argument Against Ethical Egoism

566 Words3 Pages

The philosopher Ayn Rand believed that an individual’s life is of the utmost importance, as is her well-being. She knew that altruistic ethics require individuals to sacrifice their own wellbeing and lives for the sake of others. With ethical egoism, and will value their own wellbeing above all others. So, she was for ethical egoism. Ayn Rand also had an argument against ethical egoism believing it is a mistake to treat the interest of some individuals as being less important than the interest of others. She thought on the fact that your interest is yours is not relevant to their importance relative to the importance of the interest of others. So, it is a mistake to treat your own interests as if they are more important than the interest of others. Personally, I agree with Ayn Rand’s view supporting ethical egoism. I’ve realized that I only do whatever I choose to do for my own self benefit and self-interest. Living life seems to be about survival and happiness which means having a good wellbeing. There is rarely ever a motivation for a person to do something for somebody else unless they get something out of it. For example, I could volunteer my time to help in a soup kitchen, but in return I most likely will want to be …show more content…

We think of ourselves all the time, and even if we think we are putting others first most of the time we really aren’t. People in general are selfish for their own well-being. People typically strive for their goals, dreams, and views of what success is. Nobody wants to miss out on opportunity to get what they want in life, so the big question is “Why possibly sacrifice your opportunity for the sake of another person?” You only live one life so your best to go ahead and take your shot at opportunity. The general mindset of most people is why focus on other’s interest when I already have mine to focus on in this

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